Her Favorite Sweater
by AutonomicRogue
Summary: Inspired by Romanogers-Prompts. "Natasha knits an ugly Christmas sweater and forces Steve to wear it to Tony's Christmas party."


Prompt from Romanogers-Prompts on Tumblr

"Natasha knits an ugly Christmas sweater and forces Steve to wear it to Tony's Christmas Party."

* * *

"Steve!" Natasha calls from the back room of their apartment. Well, it's not really an apartment, it's their floor in the Avengers Tower, but when they decided to move in together, Tony renovated it into an apartment to accommodate the both of them. They had all of the essentials (or all of the things that Tony thought were the essentials), a master bedroom the size of Steve's old Brooklyn apartment, a kitchen, a living room, a small movie theatre, Natasha had a ballet studio, and Steve had his art studio. They were set.

Currently, however, Natasha had taken up residence in Steve's art studio for a "super-secret project" since, "it has better lighting and I really need to see what I'm doing. I'm working on something very special." She explained to Steve with a glimmer of mischief in her eye. Steve acquiesced and let her use it, which who was he kidding, he couldn't say no to her (and if he did she would've done what she wanted anyway).

Steve walked out of the kitchen and down the hall to the art studio to see Natasha sitting there with a shit eating grin on her face and a badly wrapped present in her lap. "What did you do?" He asked hesitantly.

"What are you talking about?" Natasha pouted. "I have a present for you. Don't you want my present?"

Steve let out a hearty laugh and said, "Nat, you aren't one for presents. You know that, and I know that. That's why the only things that I buy you on special occasions are weapons, food, and alcohol. You hate presents."

Natasha huffed and replied, "well, yes, I do, but you love presents, and I got you a present. So, open it." She thrust the present into his hands, that mischievous grin returning to her face.

"Alright," Steve said setting down his drink. "Let's see what you got me."

Natasha practically bounced with excitement and started to rip at the paper with him as Steve began opening the present. He thought about asking her if she wanted to do it for him, but he didn't want her to think that he was treating her like a child. As he got the paper off, he could see her excitement increasing. When he finally opened the box, he thought that she was going to explode.

"TA-DA," she yelled as he held up the item from the box.

"Oh, wow, Nat. It's – wow – that's really – wow," he stammered as he took in the article of clothing before him. "Was this your project? This is really – wow."

"I took up knitting, Rogers, and I figured that I could make you something. So, I had the great idea of making you this ugly Christmas sweater so that you can wear it to Tony's Christmas party tomorrow night!" Natasha explained, pride gracing her features.

"Oh, Nat. It's great," Steve said as he continued to take in the article of clothing. He was hoping that she couldn't tell that he was trying to figure out where the head hole was and why there were three arms. "It's really–"

"Ugly?" Natasha chimed in that mischievous smile on her lips.

"No! No, it's not ugly – per se, it's just – uh – different." Steve was trying to find the right words so that he wouldn't hurt her feelings, but when he met her gaze she began laughing.

"Steven Grant Rogers, you are something else. That sweater is hideous."

"It's not hideous Nat, I love it." He replied.

"Hmm," Natasha pondered, stopping to think for a moment. "Well, in that case, you really won't mind wearing it to Tony's Christmas Party tomorrow?" She raised her eyebrow in challenge.

"Not at all, I'd love to," Steve replied, cringing inwardly.

"Great!" Natasha said standing up to leave the room, "I absolutely can't wait."

Steve gulped at the thought of wearing the, er, creation all night. _At least everyone else will be wearing them, right?_ He thought to himself as he packed the sweater away for tomorrow evening.

Everyone else was absolutely NOT wearing them, Steve realized as the elevator doors opened to the Avengers common room. In front of him was a sea of politicians, celebrities, philanthropists, etc. all dressed in black tie attire. Steve thought about trying to make a quick escape up to the apartment to change, but when the elevator had dinged to announce his arrival, everyone had turned to look at the door. Steve could see groups of people trying not to laugh as he entered the room, proudly displaying a one of a kind Natasha Romanoff creation.

"Woah there Capsicle, didn't you get the dress memo? I gave it to Romanoff yesterday," Tony said approaching Steve and throwing an arm around him.

"Oh, you did?" Steve said, his eyes scanning the room and meeting Natasha's who was standing by the bar with a sly smile on her face. "Well, conveniently enough, she had to help Pepper out this morning with preparing last minute things and opted to get dressed on your floor instead. It must've slipped her mind. In fact, I think I'll go ask her about it right now," Steve shrugged out of Tony's hold and headed toward where Natasha was sitting.

As Steve tried to get to the other side of the room, he was stopped multiple times by people who wanted to ask him about being Captain America or tell him stories about the Battle of New York and Sokovia. Steve was surprised that Natasha didn't try to move her position in the room, she just continued to sit at the bar, drinking martinis with Pepper until Steve arrived.

"That's a good look for you, Rogers," Natasha teased. "You'll absolutely have to tell me who the designer was." Steve gave out a mock laugh and Natasha's smile grew. "I told you it was hideous, and like I've said before, you're not a very good liar." She winked at him as she brought her drink back up to her lips.

"Oh, so I deserved to be punished for supporting my girlfriend and her hobbies? Fine. Lesson learned. But, like _I_ said before, I'm always honest. I do love the sweater, yeah, it's pretty hideous, but I love it because my extremely talented, mischievous, girlfriend made it for me. It's my favorite sweater because _you_ made it. So, it wasn't a lie." Steve shot back.

Natasha contemplated what he said for a moment meeting his hard gaze. He wasn't mad at her, she could tell, when he was mad with her it was a completely different tone of voice and look. This was a sad puppy dog. He was hurt. He really was just trying to be supportive and she messed it up. In fact, she was kind of cruel about it. _Good going, Romanoff,_ she thought to herself. She looked at Pepper who had been pretending like she wasn't listening to the whole thing and set her martini down.

"Pep, you're going to have to finish this for me," Natasha said as she slid out of her seat. She grabbed Steve's hand and pulled him with her out of the common area and into the elevator. He didn't say anything and neither did she as they rode up to their apartment in silence. Steve left the elevator first and walked down the short hallway to their front door. She fully expected him to slam it in her face, but he opened it and stepped aside for her to enter. _Ever the gentleman,_ she thought to herself. Steve walked into the kitchen and promptly made two drinks. Whisky for him and vodka for her before joining her on the couch. They both sat in silence a bit longer, sipping on their drinks before Natasha got up and straddled his lap.

"I'm sorry," she sighed as she took his face in her hands, "I love that you support me. It was just supposed to be a joke and I'm sorry that it wasn't very funny. Forgive me?"

Steve looked at her for a moment before cracking a small smile, "I'll always forgive you, Nat. Tricking me into wearing this awful sweater to a formal party isn't the worst thing that you can do, and to be fair, it was pretty funny. You got me pretty good. I just want you to know that I will love and support you always, even when you aren't very good at your hobbies. I'll still love everything you do."

Natasha smiled at him and gave out a small laugh, "I know, Steve. I know you will. The same goes for me you know."

Steve reached up and swept a piece of hair out of Natasha's face and behind her ear, "I know." He chuckled. He went in to give her a kiss, but she pulled away. He looked up at her confused as she got up off of his lap and stood to leave the room. "Where are you-?"

"Hang on," Natasha replied leaving the room. He heard some shuffling around in the other room before Natasha returned hands behind her back. Steve looked at her quizzically. As Natasha approached, she gave him a genuine smile, his favorite Natasha smile. A look that says that she's comfortable and safe and feels loved and loves him in return. Natasha looks at him and lets out a breath like she's been holding it since she left the room.

"Are you going to tell me what you have behind your back?" He asks humor in his voice.

"Do it," Natasha replies, confidence lacing her voice as she thrusts a small box towards him.

"Nat, how did you-?" Steve asks shocked as he takes the small box from her hands.

"I found it a year ago, after we moved in together. I figured that you would do it in time, but– do it, Steve. Please," she replies, a small smile gracing her features.

Steve laughs, "I should've known. I do live with a spy, but in all honesty, I've had this since our second date. I was just trying to find the right time," Steve says standing up, "but it seems that you found the right time for me." He looks at her for a moment, absolutely taken with her beauty and the joy on her face. This was the right time, he knew it. "Well, I didn't think that I would be proposing to you in something quite as eccentric as this, but I suppose it'll just make it all the more memorable." He chuckles as he drops down on one knee. He takes her hand in his, his thumb running over the back of her hand in a way that calms both of their nerves. "Nat, I'm not going to give you some big speech about how I've been in love with you since I met you, or how when you asked me on our first date I couldn't sleep the night before because I was so excited, or how I've thought about doing this every single day since because I know that you hate that sort of thing," Steve starts and Natasha lets out a small laugh, tears brimming in her eyes. "So, I'll just get right to it, Natalia Alianovna Romanova, I love you more than I could ever describe, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

Natasha down at him and nods her head vigorously, "yes," she says hoarsely, "absolutely yes." Steve takes out the small diamond ring (he knows she's not one for show and this way she can still wear it discretely on missions) and places it on her finger. As soon as it's slid in place, Natasha pulls him up for a kiss, which he's happy to reciprocate. When they break apart, Steve leans his head against hers, both of them sniffling and wiping each other's tears.

"I knew I would cry, but I didn't think that you would," Steve whispers in her ear. This earns him a laugh from Natasha.

"I guess you just have that effect on me, Rogers," she responds to which he laughs. She pulls back and looks at him for a moment, taking in everything that just happened. "You know what, Steve?" He responds with a hum, "This sweater just became my favorite, too." She pulls him close and buries her face in the material. Oh yeah, this was definitely her favorite sweater.


End file.
